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Prairie Grove Chapel

This little white wood-frame church has sat in the Prairie Grove Cemetery in Waynedale for at least 150 years. The building, which is located on Old Trail Road in Fort Wayne, Indiana is one of the oldest buildings in the city.

The church has been abandoned for many years but it once hosted regular church services. My grandfather and some friends visited the church as teenagers because the pastor lived in their neighborhood back in the late 1930's. Grandpa told me he was shocked to see his neighbor, the minister, open the services by running through the little chapel screaming and waving his arms. The other churchgoers told grandpa that the pastor was chasing the devil out! Grandpa and his friends left. The devil never dared show up at their churches!

In the 1990s a small non-denominational congregation used the church for a while, then abandoned it. The cemetery maintains the building but it is no longer used for anything. The last congregation to use the building put the letters in the sign with a statement of faith in the Gospel, but the letters have since fallen off.

In early 2008, vandals set the chapel on fire and caused damage to the area around the pulpit. The back of the building and part of the roof are covered in plywood awaiting possible repairs. I hope that the Prairie Grove Cemetery does repair the little church. They are looking into the costs now.

I began photographing this place in the late 1990's when I used a photograph of it in my graduation project from art school.

14 Photographs

 

Interior of the old white wooden church in the Prairie Grove Cemetery in the Waynedale area of Fort Wayne, Indiana. The pulpit stands in the front of the chapel looking out toward the old wooden pews. Light streams through the pointed arch windows along the side of the building. The windows are covered by lacy curtains.

 

An old chair in the back of the little church in the Prairie Grove Cemetery in the Waynedale section of Fort Wayne, Indiana.

 

The sign on the old abandoned white wooden church in the Prairie Grove Cemetery in the Waynedale area of Fort Wayne, Indiana. "The Gospel: Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. Do you beleive it?" The sign is in a framw with a little shingled roof over it.

 

A view from the pulpit looking out over the old wooden pews in the little white wooden church in the Prairie Grove Cemetery in the Waynedale area of Fort Wayne, Indiana. The chapel has pointed arch windows and a single small door in the back of the church. Lacy curtains cover all of the windows.

 

The little white church at the Prairie Grove Cemetery in the Waynedale area of Fort Wayne, Indiana. The chapel is white clapboard with black arched windows and a brick chimney. Wrought iron fence surrounds the cemetery and church.

The front door and sign of the old white church at the Prairie Grove Cemetery in the Waynedale area of Fort Wayne, Indiana. The sign says Grace Bible Fellowship. An arched window sits above the door.

 

Inside of the dark wood door of an abandoned church. The crucifix has been torn off the door leaving a mark where it once hung. This is the little chapel in the Prairie Grove Cemetery in the Waynedale area of Fort Wayne, Indiana.

 

The front door and sign of the old white church at the Prairie Grove Cemetery in the Waynedale area of Fort Wayne, Indiana. The letters have fallen off the sign and are laying in a jumbled pile of letters at the bottom of the sign frame.

 

The windows and old wooden pews inside the old white church at the Prairie Grove Cemetery in the Waynedale area of Fort Wayne, Indiana. The windows have old lacy curtains on them.

 

The wrought iron fence around the Prairie Grove Cemetery in the Waynedale section of Fort Wayne, Indiana. The old white church in the cemetery stands behind the fence. The church is a woodframe building with a brick chimney and arched windows.

 

 

 

Christopher Crawford
Fort Wayne, IN

chris@chriscrawfordphoto.com

 

chriscrawfordphoto.com
and its contents are ©2008
by Christopher Crawford

 

Unused light fixture on outside of old white church in the Prairie Grove Cemetery in the Waynedale area of Fort Wayne, Indiana. The brick chimney is visible in the background.

 

Pointed arch windows in the side of the old white wooden church in the Prairie Grove Cemetery located in the Waynedale area of Fort Wayne, Indiana. A natural gas regulator and pipes stand under the windows and a brick chimney climbs the side of the building next to the windows.

 

Dilapidated outhouse in the Prairie Grove Cemetery in the Waynedale section of Fort Wayne, Indiana. The old white wooden chapel can be seen in the background and a tree stands next to the outhouse. The ground is covered in fall leaves.

 

Interior of the old white wooden church in the Prairie Grove Cemetery in the Waynedale area of Fort Wayne, Indiana. The pulpit stands in the front of the chapel looking out toward the old wooden pews. Light streams through the pointed arch windows along the side of the building. The windows are covered by lacy curtains.